Former ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ Cast Member Said Jessica Alba Lied About No Eye Contact Rule
When Jessica Alba shared her negative experience as a guest star on Beverly Hills, 90210, many of the show’s former stars shot down her claim about a no eye contact rule. Now Christine Elise, who was on 12 episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210 and appeared on BH90210, is giving her take on Alba’s comments — and she’s not holding back.
Jessica Alba said she couldn’t make eye contact with the ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ cast
During an October appearance on Hot Ones, Alba was asked about her experience working on two episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210 and her recollection was anything but positive.
“On the set of 90210, I couldn’t even make eye contact with any of the cast members, which was really strange when you’re, like, trying to do a scene with them,” Alba said.
She added, “It was like, ‘You’re not allowed to make eye contact with any one of the cast members or you’ll be thrown off the set.’”
‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ cast members denied Alba’s claim
Brian Austin Green and Jason Priestley both denied the claim and Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth said they weren’t aware of any such rule on set.
Christine Elise, who played Emily Valentine on the series, weighed in with her take on Alba’s claim about the bizarre rule, calling it a “f*cking lie.”
During an appearance on the Oct. 21 episode of the Beverly Hills, 90210 Show podcast, Elise noted, “Is she f*cking insane? There’s no way.”
“[Producer] Paul Waigner did say, ‘The girls may not be nice, the guys might not be nice,’ but that’s as bad as it got,” she continued. “That cast is very nice and if they don’t like you, just go away.”
Elise added, “That whole ‘don’t make eye contact’ [claim] is — I’m gonna call it what it is — it’s a f*cking lie.”
The actor couldn’t understand why Alba made the claim at all. “Why is she invested in sh*t talking a show from 30 years ago? She’s doing great,” Elise said. “She’s a bazillionaire with her little Honest company!”
‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ director weighed in
The director for the episodes Alba appeared in, Joel Feigenbaum, had weighed in on her comments during the Oct. 12 episode of the podcast and he was also surprised by her claim.
“It’s very possible somebody could have said that to her, either seriously or not,” Feigenbaum explained. “I can’t imagine who it would have been. It certainly wasn’t one of the cast and I can’t even imagine — the only other people it might have been, an AD (assistant director) or maybe somebody in the makeup and hair trailer.”
He added, “I don’t doubt that she heard that somehow, but I certainly was never aware of it and you certainly never saw that on the set anyway.”
In discussing the show on their 90210MG iHeartRadio podcast, Spelling and Garth wondered if someone had told Alba this “rule.”
Spelling wondered “if there was some cool memo that was like going around from the producers or the ADs and we didn’t even know.” She added, “Imagine we just thought like guest stars didn’t like us. They never looked at us! We don’t know why! We were so nice!”
